Rough Ridin Estate Tax

Hey Barry:

Sometime the REPS forget where they came from.

Here's what Theodore Roosevelt had to say about big fortunes and the need for an estate tax, as quoted by Tim Rutten in the LA Times: 'Like many thoughtful Americans of his era, he believed the disproportionate accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few would make a mockery of our meritocracy and, ultimately, of our democracy. In 1910, he summed up those feelings.

"We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used," Roosevelt said. "It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community.... The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size, acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and … a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion, and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate." '

Your pal,

Get It While The Gettin's Good

Hey Barry:

Y'all on a roll. That's good.

Get everything you can while you can.

Come January, even blowing your nose will be a battle royal. I'd love to think the Reps will actually put the good of the country ahead of the RICH - but, I'm a pessimist.

Merry Christmas.

Your pal,

Carried Interest

Hey Barry:

There is a thing in the tax revisions that did not get changed. It is a killer.

Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/15/BUSR1GQ3CI.DTL

I'm not talking about the estate tax, which is bad enough.

It is the carried interest provision which lets the super rich treat income as capital gains.

According to columnist Andrew Ross, here's what folks say about it: '"hyperconcentration of rewards at the top" (the top 1 percent and up), and a corresponding "hyperinequality" with the rest of the nation.'

We really need to do something about this one, Barry. We need more income equality and less capital formation - capital fomation is another word for the RICH getting richer. Too much capital fomation and too little wages is a problem for us right now.

Your pal

Let rich pay to fix deficit, say Americans

Hey Barry:

A new Bloomberg poll has reported that most Americans want the rich to pay more taxes to help with deficit reduction.

Read it here: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/insight/stories/2010/12/12/let-rich-pay-to-fix-deficit-say-americans.html?sid=101

I don't think there are many mysteries in DC - no secrets about economics. We all get it.

Your pal,